Collin Baikie is Victory MMA’s middleweight champion. This year, however, he’s been focusing a lot on Muay Thai. In his latest amateur fight, Baikie defeated his opponent by TKO in the second round.

Despite the TKO victory, Baikie did not entirely roll over his taller opponent, Peter Delaney.

“This guy here was a tougher opponent because he was taller and he got a lot longer reach than me. He surprised me because he put a lot of pressure on me and I had to think so quickly,” said Baikie.

“The guy came at me hard throwing a lot of punches.”

Late in the first round, Baikie swung the momentum by stunning Delaney with a solid strike. It would be a sign of things to come in the second round.

“I stopped him in the first round about a minute and thirty seconds in with a right hand and he stumbled in the ring … the ref gave him an eight second count and he continued,” said Baikie.

“In the second round I got my composure back and … I was more relaxed, my breathing was better and I started to pick him apart then.”

Halfway through the second round, Baikie put together a string of strikes, which led to the referee ending the bout.

“I caught him with the over-hand right, kind of stunned him up, then I kicked him in the ribs and dropped him,” recalled Baikie. “I threw a couple more punches and the ref jumped in and stopped it.”

Baikie is primarily focused on his mixed martial arts career. In that category, he is currently Victory MMA’s middleweight champion. He won his title at his last MMA fight on Nov 30.

There is a big difference between Muay Thai and MMA. Muay Thai is all about striking your opponent, which can lead to a fast and aggressive fight in the ring.

“Muay Thai is all striking, so you don’t have to worry about getting taken down. So that’s a little different, because it’s more action. You get hit more, you’ve got to throw more, you’ve got to move more,” said Baikie.

“Muay Thai is more brutal. It’s like nine chances out of 10, somebody’s getting knocked out.”

Although Baikie is still an amateur fighter, he does have one pro Muay Thai fight under his belt. Back in March, he spent one month in Thailand with his coach, Peter Sisomphou, to focus exclusively on his Muay Thai skills.

While in Thailand, Baikie had the privilege of training with Muay Thai legend Sagat Petchyindee, who many believe is the inspiration for the “Sagat” character in the Street Fighter video game series.

He even learned, and publicly performed, the traditional Ram Muay dance.

During his pro fight in Thailand, which earned him $300, Baikie won via first round knockout.

Everything Baikie learned in the foreign country made him a better fighter, and the new skills came in handy during his latest bout.

“After I came back from Thailand, I learned what the sport was all about … I learned more of the tradition of the sport and more of the history. I got to train with one of the best strikers in the world … It definitely gave me a big edge,” said Baikie.

“I actually used one of the kicks I learned in Thailand to finish this guy.”

Baikie doesn’t know when he’ll get a chance to make his first title defense in an MMA fight. But he is scheduled to fight in another Muay Thai match on Aug. 23.